After the disastrous earthquake that occurred in the Tohoku region of Japan last year, Japan lit up almost overnight with the words, "Ganbare, Nippon" (Try your best, Japan!) throughout the entire country. Even Tokyo tower wasn't safe from the supposed words of encouragement that were supposed to unite the country as a whole; but according to many psychologists, this was seen as an unhealthy push for those who were suffering from the loss of loved ones.

When fellow acquaintances tell a man that lost his son to the tsunami to "Ganbatte ne," he writes: Although I want to say, "that's not possible," I just laugh and pretend everything is ok.

According to the article, words such as: "Have hope," "Try your best," and "See it as a good loss" are encouraging words that don't have positive results. On the contrary, it makes those who are suffering retreat deeper into their shell.

I always hated the word "ganbatte." Like most Japanese phrases, it's something that's repeated to the point where it has no meaning, and more than become a word of encouragement, it becomes a meaningless social rule of some kind. When those who have just lost loved ones and trying to cope with the fact that their entire home has been washed into the ocean hear the words "ganbatte," they must be infuriated. Some, however, see the words as some kind of pressure to stand strong, stick together, and endure.

Endurance, however, is the not the way.

Ganbare is not the word we need. "I'm here for you," "it will be ok" and "take your time" is what victims need.The second random pile of information?Happy Year of the Dragon!

People are claiming the new "dragon stamp" for the new year is... scary!! His face is mean!! The power!! The fangs!! Americans even go as far to say the new stamp implies that China is telling the world: "Watch out, bitches, I'm comin for you" in terms of economic growth and success.

Although I tend to completely disagree.

It's a stamp, people... What do you want the dragon to do? Smile and sing with flower dotted scales? Dragons are supposed to be scary mofos and I, for one, am glad to have such a kick ass animal be the year for 2012 here in Shanghai!! Good things to come!!Random shit 3

As I was flipping through the news at work, I came across this ad. To me, it seems like a cute little twist on words and I giggle a bit; but after a moment I realize that unless you are bi-lingual, this ad would make no f'ing sense. This is the first time I've ever seen an ad catered just to bi-lingual readers. Even if a Chinese person can read the ad, do they really comprehend the phrase "dot every i, cross every 't''? And without previous Chinese study, westerners would stare at the hanzi with drool running out of their mouth.

Being the linguistic nerd I am, it struck me as a wee bit clever.

Randomness number 4? My life

Stand here and...

look at this!!!!!!

I can now say that I've been to the third tallest building in the world, with this handsome guy..

Then we went to eat some......

水母！！ Ok, so we didn't eat it, but I did take a pretty damn good photo here. I should submit it to National Geographic.

We went to an Aquariam where this gigantic yellow turtle followed me around..

And ate some FROG SWIMMIN IN PEPPAH JUICE OIL

Boyfriend: "Why....... why is it not spicy......??" 我们被服务员骗了

Spent Christmas and New Years with my boyfriend in shanghai, which was filled with delivery pizza, movies, strolls through downtown, countdown at the bund, hospitals, puke, blood tests and.. wha...?

Aside from the puke and blood, time with Ken was simply unforgettable. I had the best date of my life, with the best Christmas present and hundun (wonton) folding lessons that will last for a lifetime. Eating that pigeon made for his dad will also stay with me indefinitely...

Mmm, nothing like a whole, uncut pigeon to feast on...Random shit 5... The Wailing of a Salary(wo)man...

I don't want to dwell on it too much, but I think there are definite symptoms of "mid-twenties crisis." It's that stage we all have after graduation from university, and 3-4 years we still find ourselves far from the idealistic goal of having that dream job that paid off all our student loans. I had dreams of being some elite business woman working in some high rise and bossing people around, answering phones and going to meetings like the world was at my fingertips and everything I said had meaning and power juts because I worked on the 54th floor. This was my dream.

But to really work in such a setting really sucks all the allure away. No matter how up I am or what business jargon I throw around, I'm a bit miserable. Facing a computer and crunching numbers all day is just not my forte. Pisces were just not meant to do such stationary and goddamn boring work.

I remember reading my horoscope once. It said something about how Pisces could never set to restrictions and would just swim away with any kind of pressure inflicting job that was given to them. Now that I suffer the cruelty of overtime everyday, I can't help but remember these words. Maybe I'm not cut out to be that kick ass business bitch I always dreamed of being.

Sometimes I have fantasies that I'm somehow a billionaire, I can buy out my company and before firing the managers force them to research tire parts for 20 hours nonstop and make 200,000 phone calls to Japan selling Google adwords. But then I tell myself: Mary, grow up, be more of an adult and don't wish for petty revenge. Damn, feels so good, though..

My job is super stressful and I've been coming home at 9 almost everyday. Overtime is one thing, but overtime due to poor planning and shitty time management is another thing. My manager is literally asking me to build Noah's ark in seven days, which is goddamn impossible (even with overtime). Let's hope by the end of February I can escape this hellhole and find a brighter, better future..

Anyway, Chunjie is around the corner, and nothing screams Chunjie more than typical new years music blasting at KFC, or hearing "GONG XI FA CAI!!" repeatedly at my local fruit stand.